Snoopy Sister and Security

Got a call smack dab in the middle of dinner from the Elder Sister last night. She asked if she were interrupting anything, so I truthfully told her we were eating, and I made arrangements to call back. After multiple attempts to call her, I finally got through her forever-busy line. Turns out she’d seen some news program last night that mentioned bioterrorism and specifically mentioned the possibility of agricultural targets. She wanted to know “my take” on this.

That puts me in an awkward position. I avoid talking about my work even among people who know what I do for a living. Any specific mentions that would identify my job in this diary are in “private”. I have this policy for several reasons.

• I believe strongly in what I do for a living. I consider myself fortunate to have my current position (for all the grief it gives me some days) and I know I’m making a difference in the world by doing my job. There are those that would, for ethical/moral reasons, beg to differ with me. I am firm in my conviction that my job is important and ethical, and no longer have a taste for debate about it, especially with people I do not know. So I try not to open myself up to such debates.

• The job I’m doing is related to work that is currently under review in the court system. (Do not think that, by this statement, you can guess what I do. I assure you, you will guess wrong.) I do not wish to jeopardize the court proceedings or make things more difficult for the “good guys” by making statements in a public place that could conceivably be traced back to me and misused.

• My work sometimes makes me privy to “inside information”. It is easier to avoid talking about my job completely than to try and talk around some of the confidential information I become aware of. If I avoid talking about it, then I can’t make a slip.

Anyhow, the Elder Sister wanted to specifically know what, if anything, my company was doing regarding the threat to animal health in our country. Not something I really wanted to talk about, especially to her since I knew that anything I said would be public property by lunch the following day. I told her we were aware of the potential threat, that our company and the government officials associated with our company were taking additional precautions, but that so far we hadn’t any reason to specifically worry. I know that wasn’t the answer she wanted, and I was probably too brusque in handling her, because she hung up rather disgruntled.

I’m not sure what I was supposed to do though. She’s proven to me a hundred times over that she can’t keep a secret. Remember her telling me on the Q.T. about the Younger Sister’s divorce months before the Younger Sister chose to tell me? That’s only the most recent of examples, and by far not the most serious breach of confidentiality she’s made with me. So even if filial affection prompted me to give her details, prudence demanded I not discuss it. I have a feeling I’ve not heard the end of this though.

What I will say to any of you reading this who are curious: The United States is aware of the many faces terrorism can take. It has always been standard practice to keep veterinarians of our country up to date on foreign animal disease threats to our agriculture. In the face of September 11th and the events after that date, additional surveillance has been put in place in many places throughout the country in an effort to prevent the introduction and spread of disease that could damage our agricultural. For a good indication of how current events have impacted the veterinarians of the United States, I recommend you take a look at The Home Page of the American Veterinary Medical Association . (This will open in a separate window for you.)

And that’s all I’m saying on that.

The rest of yesterday evening was uneventful. My breathing is finally easing up, which I take as a sign that the bronchitis is finally on its way out. Kitten from Hell apparently stole a few bites of cilantro from the fresh stems in the vase on the kitchen counter. For that, and for stealing food out of the Clueless Wonder’s food dish and for dumping the Warrior Princess’s water bowl she was banished to the bathroom during dinner. She mewed pitifully the entire time she was in there. When I finally opened the door to let her out I found all the fresh towels pulled off the racks and arranged on the floor to make her a bed (even though there are perfectly nice fluffy rugs in there for her). I played a few games of Snood last night, and she attempted to help me:

I went to bed early last night and read for a while, until The Prof came in and we talked for a while. He tucked me in and turned out the lights, shutting the door against any furry interlopers that might disturb my slumbers. When he came to bed himself a few hours later, he found KfH curled up asleep in the bend of my legs behind my knees. I never knew she was there.

There may be hope for that kitten.